Stein Mart Stores
Stein Mart, Incorporated, is a chain of
discount department-style stores selling women’s, men’s, and children’s
brand-name clothing, as well as shoes, fragrances, jewelry, bed and bath lines,
home accessories, and gifts. The company, which began in Greenville, Mississippi, caters to an upscale clientele by stocking brand-name merchandise and
boutique goods and emphasizing customer service and vendor relationships.
In 1908, Russian immigrant Sam Stein opened
the department store bearing his name in Greenville, Mississippi. Stein operated his store successfully throughout his lifetime,
turning over to the business to his son, Jake Stein, upon his retirement. Jake
Stein managed the family business, and in 1968 he oversaw the incorporation of Stein
Mart in the state of Mississippi. The company’s transition from a local department store began in the
late 1970s when Jay Stein succeeded his father, Jake, as chief executive officer
of the company. In 1977, Jay Stein oversaw the opening of a new Stein Mart
store in Memphis, Tennessee. At this time, he also redirected the company’s focus from that of a
discount department store to a fashion store.
The company continued to expand under his
leadership and in 1980 a third Stein Mart store opened in Nashville, Tennessee. With the company’s expansion under way, in 1980 Jay Stein hired Jack
Williams as executive vice president and charged him with helping the chain to
grow beyond its regional market. Throughout the early 1980s, Stein Mart, Inc.
continued to grow, opening its first store in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1983 and moving the corporate headquarters there in 1984. After
the move, Stein Mart, Inc. opened new stores and expanded further throughout
the region during the 1980s.
In 1992, the company, then comprised of 45
stores, incorporated in the state of Florida and became a publicly traded company, listed
on the NASDAQ as SMRT. In the 1990s Stein Mart, Inc. increased the pace of its
expansion, growing to more than 200 stores in 29 states by the close of the
decade. In August, 2001, Jay Stein retired from his position as chief executive
officer and was succeeded by Jack Williams. This marked the first time in the
corporation’s history that a member of the Stein family was not head of the
company.
In October, 2002, Stein Mart, Inc. launched a
new concept store, “Collections of Stein Mart,” hoping to target the high-end
segment of the company’s clientele. The pilot store, opened in Palos Verdes, California, is about half the size of traditional Stein Mart stores and is
stocked exclusively with boutique-style goods. Stein Mart, Inc. plans to expand
the concept store by opening an additional three to five “Collections of Stein Mart” stores in 2003.
The 2002 annual report of Stein Mart, Inc.
announced further changes in the company’s structure when CEO Jack Williams
made public his decision to retire from the corporation effective in February
2003. At that time, Williams will join Jay Stein as vice chairman of the board
of directors of Stein Mart, Inc. Current company president Michael D. Fisher
will succeed Williams as CEO and current executive vice president Gwen Manto will become vice chairman.
The corporation’s annual report issued on February
2, 2002, lists the
company as operating 253 stores in 29 states and employing more than 14,000
people. Stein Mart, Inc. is publicly traded on the NASDAQ and has more than
1,100 shareholders. Jay Stein, the corporation’s former CEO and grandson of the
chain’s founder, remains the largest shareholder, controlling more than forty
percent of the company’s stock. Despite somewhat weakened earnings forecasts
for the 2002 fiscal year, the company expects rising profits and plans to open
approximately thirty new stores during the 2003 fiscal year, continuing the
trend of growth that transformed a Mississippi department store into a national chain of
discount department-style stores.
Carolyn
Cooper